> Issue Briefs > Bioethics

Three Cheers for the CDF: A Long Overdue Admonition

Posted: June 7, 2012
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

Errors in US Ethicist’s Teaching Pointed Out By E. Christian Brugger WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 6, 2012 (Zenit.org ).- For all the weaknesses with Catholic moral theology in the two centuries before Vatican II, one weakness it did not suffer from … Read

Virtues in Caring for the Sick and Dying Patient

Posted: February 1, 2012
By: William E. May

For years I have been writing articles opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide, grave violations of the inviolable dignity of human bodily persons, whose bodies are integral to their being as human and not spirit persons. Since January 17, I myself … Read

Whose Conscience? Which Religion? The Enemy Is Partially Us

Posted: January 25, 2012
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

Ruling on Health Care Needs to Be Judged in Light of Truth WASHINGTON, D.C., JAN. 24, 2012 (Zenit.org ).- There is a lot of anger over the Obama administration’s recently announced decision to require religiously-affiliated employers to cover contraceptive services … Read

Coleman critique available

Posted: January 3, 2012
By: William E. May

A Critique of the Systematic Review Of Induced Abortion and Mental Health Released by the Royal College of Psychiatrists Priscilla K. Coleman, Ph.D. December 13, 2011 The Royal College of Psychiatrist’s recently conducted review of scientific literature published … Read

The Morality of “GIFT” and “IUI”

Posted: December 6, 2011
By: William E. May

Background and Introduction
In September 2010 Culture-of-Life.org posted on this website my article, “Clarification of GIFT and IUI: Assisting or Substituting the Conjugal Act?” Dr. José Florez had kindly corrected me for an article in Zenit in which I confused GIFT or Gamete Intrafallopian Tube Transfer with IUI or Homologous Intrauterine Insemination. He informed me that GIFT is seldom used today in the U.S. because IUI is simpler and apparently more effective.

Procedure
I will first describe GIFT/IUI, identify the moral issue, summarize arguments given until 2011 pro and con the moral rightness of these procedures, summarize a somewhat new argument in opposition to them advanced in 2011 by Helen Watt, briefly reflect on the way “the language of the body” relates to their morality, and offer a Conclusion.

Read

Why Would the Leader in Embryonic Stem Cell Research Drop Out?

Posted: December 1, 2011
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

Translating Theory Into Treatments More Difficult Than Expected

WASHINGTON, D.C., NOV. 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a question on bioethics asked by a ZENIT reader and answered by the fellows of the Culture of Life Foundation.

Q: Now that Geron has discontinued its embryonic stem cell research, while at the same time adult stem cell experiments have had a number of successful trials, what does this mean for the stem cell debate? – FJF, Australia.

E. Christian Brugger replies:

Two weeks ago a bombshell exploded on the field of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) medicine. The undisputed leader in clinical research on hESCs, Geron Corporation, announced that it was immediately ending its clinical trials using hESCs and pulling out of the embryonic stem cell business altogether to focus on cancer research.

Read

Birth Control for the Disabled? Caregivers Should Look at Norms for Legitimate Self-Defense

Posted: November 17, 2011
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

WASHINGTON, D.C., NOV. 16, 2011 (Zenit.org ).- Here is a question on bioethics asked by a ZENIT reader and answered by the fellows of the Culture of Life Foundation.

Q: My friend has a 21-year-old daughter who suffers from a developmental disorder that makes her behave significantly younger than she is. I too have a daughter with a similar disorder (she’s 12). Because some people prey on girls who do not understand what is going on or do not have the reasoning skills to stop a situation, my friend put her daughter on "birth control" to protect her. She has, of course, talked to her daughter about what is appropriate touching and what is inappropriate. But she still fears for her daughter’s safety. I know from my experience that my daughter often does inappropriate things unknowingly. I understand this mother’s worry, but I wonder if there are any moral concerns with doing this? — D.U., Wichita, Kansas.

E. Christian Brugger offers the following response:

Read

Cloning Takes a Giant Step Forward: The Dubious Advance of Modern Science

Posted: October 12, 2011
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

DENVER, Colorado, OCT. 10, 2011 (Zenit.org ).- The journal Nature announced last Wednesday that scientists had for the first time successfully derived “patient specific” stem cells from a cloned human embryo. The last time such a claim was made was … Read

The Guatemala Affair: Study Shows Ethics isn’t Always a Concern of “Pure Science”

Posted: October 11, 2011
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

WASHINGTON, D.C., OCT. 5, 2011 (Zenit.org ).- Most are familiar with the infamous “Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment” carried out on black sharecroppers in Alabama between 1932-1972. U.S. government health officials withheld effective treatment (penicillin after 1947) for syphilis from 400 … Read

Legalizing Euthanasia by Omission – And Making It a Doctor’s Order

Posted: August 25, 2011
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

DENVER, Colorado, AUG. 24, 2011 (Zenit.org ).- A problematic new end-of-life medical form is rapidly gaining ascendency in U.S. healthcare. It is called the “POLST” document. (In my own state of Colorado, it’s called a MOST document.) The acronym stands … Read